BOOM!
The deafening explosion of Chi Wang's dark red flames crashing directly against Ah Yin's crystalline vines sent violent, earth-shattering tremors through the heavy cobblestones of Spirit City. The sheer force of the collision generated a shockwave of boiling air that swept outward, overturning heavy wooden merchant carts and shattering the glass windows of the surrounding multi-story buildings. A thick, suffocating cloud of dark gray smoke and hissing white steam instantly blanketed the ruined market square, obscuring the afternoon sun and casting the battlefield into an eerie, twilight gloom.
From the dispersing, swirling smoke, Yao Ling and Zi Ji materialized like silent phantoms stepping out of the underworld. Their footfalls made absolutely no sound against the cracked paving stones. Their ancient, predatory eyes locked onto Ah Yin's crimson-haired figure with undisguised, freezing malice that dropped the ambient temperature of the square to a chilling degree.
Without speaking a single word to their fiery, reckless companion, the two ancient Ferocious Beasts instantly joined the fray. They did not care for human concepts of honorable dueling or fair combat; in the harsh, unforgiving laws of the Star Dou Great Forest, the only truth was survival, and the swift eradication of any perceived threat to their dominion.
Their auras erupted simultaneously, ascending to the heavens to suppress the surrounding area.
Jin Xi, hiding behind the shattered remnants of a fruit stall, felt the suffocating, mountain-crushing pressure of three Super Douluo level entities bearing down upon the square. She clutched her chest, her breathing growing ragged as the sheer spiritual weight threatened to crush her fragile human lungs. She quickly backed away, her beautiful golden hair whipping wildly around her face from the violent gales generated by their clashing spirit powers.
'I cannot stop them,' Jin Xi thought, her crimson eyes filling with deep, helpless sorrow as she silently retreated deeper into the shadows of the ruined alleyway. 'Grumpy old man and the others will not listen to reason while they are this angry. They smell the corruption of the forest on Yin's vines. If I reveal myself now, they will only try to seize me by force, and I will only distract Yin if I step forward. I must stay hidden until Zhang Tian arrives. He will know how to stop this madness.'
Out in the open square, Zi Ji moved with a lethal, mesmerizing elegance. Her dark violet hair flowed behind her like a banner of the night sky as a thick ring of purple-black light spread out from her slender, alluring figure. She did not summon a visible martial spirit phantom, expertly compressing her draconic essence into her human vessel to masquerade as a dark-attribute human expert.
SWISH!
Zi Ji raised her pale hand, her long, manicured fingernails glowing with an ominous, sickly light. She activated her Death and Decay ability, imbuing her graceful, sweeping strikes with a terrifying darkness element that immediately began to corrode the air itself.
"Let us see how your weeds fare against the true abyss, human woman," Zi Ji mocked, her voice echoing with the ancient, dangerous cadence of a beast who had spent tens of thousands of years ruling the dark waters of the forest.
Yao Ling, appearing to the world as nothing more than a frail, hunchbacked old man dressed in simple brown robes, did not even bother to adopt a martial arts stance. He simply raised his wrinkled, bark-like hands, his cloudy eyes flashing with a sickening, vibrant green light.
CRACK! RUMBLE!
His mere gesture caused the very stone beneath Ah Yin's feet to crack and groan in agonizing protest. Massive fissures spider-webbed across the market square, the earth itself rebelling under the invisible, overwhelming spiritual suppression of the Myriad Demon King.
Ah Yin gritted her teeth, her flawless face pale but determined. Her crimson blood-colored hair flared wildly around her shoulders as she pushed her spirit power to its absolute, ragged limits to maintain her defensive perimeter. The pressure was unimaginable.
'They are too powerful together,' Ah Yin thought, her vast spiritual sea churning violently as she realized the true depth of the peril she was in. She analyzed the auras of her attackers with the seasoned, tactical mind of a Spirit Douluo. 'The fiery one possesses the destructive capability of a Rank 97 Power Attack System Super Douluo. The woman wields a darkness attribute so pure it rivals the abyss itself, easily sitting at Rank 96. And the old man... his aura is an unfathomable ocean. He hasn't even revealed a martial spirit, yet his spiritual suppression is crushing my domain. I am facing three entities of unimaginable age and cultivation.'
Ah Yin knew that holding back was a guaranteed death sentence. If she perished here, Jin Xi would be taken, and Zhang Tian's plans would be severely hindered.
Her dark, profound spirit rings flared around her body, the halos illuminating the smoke. "Seventh Spirit Ability: Blood Silver Empress Avatar!"
A blinding, majestic crimson light erupted from Ah Yin's body. She did not transform into a massive beast, but rather, her human form merged seamlessly with her supreme botanical spirit. She grew taller, her skin taking on a faint, ethereal glow. Her dress transformed into an elaborate armor woven entirely from indestructible, living Blood Silver vines. A crown of sharp, ruby-red thorns materialized upon her brow, marking her as the absolute sovereign of all plant-type spirits.
"Blood Silver Domain!" Ah Yin shouted, her voice resonating with an ancient, regal authority.
A massive, pulsating halo of crimson light expanded rapidly from her feet, covering a radius of a hundred meters. Wherever the red light touched, the scorched earth began to heal, and the oppressive heat of Chi Wang's flames was forcibly suppressed. Within this domain, Ah Yin's vitality was infinitely replenished, and the attributes of any hostile forces were significantly dampened.
However, Zi Ji was not deterred by the majestic display of the plant sovereign. She thrust her slender palm forward, a cruel smile touching her lips.
HISS!
Zi Ji sent a massive, concentrated wave of corrosive darkness directly toward Ah Yin's exposed right flank, aiming to rot her defensive vines into lifeless, gray dust. The dark purple light splashed violently against the towering wall of Blood Silver Empress vines that Ah Yin had erected.
The sound was horrifying, like acid poured over raw flesh. The powerful corrosion effect violently warred against Ah Yin's absolute botanical resilience. The vines hissed and smoked, the outer layers turning black and brittle, only for the immense vitality of the Blood Silver Domain to instantly force new, healthy vines to sprout and replace the dead tissue.
Ah Yin was barely able to remain on the defensive. Her boots slid backward against the ruined paving stones, carving two deep, parallel trenches into the earth from the sheer, overwhelming physical force of their combined, relentless assault.
She did her absolute best to protect herself, continuously weaving her hands to form a thick, impenetrable protective barrier in the specific direction where Jin Xi had retreated. She refused to let the naive, helpless girl get caught in the devastating crossfire of Super Douluo level abilities.
Knowing she could not hold out passively against three apex predators, Ah Yin's dark spirit rings flared once more, calling upon the unique, terrifying vitality of her Blood Silver Empress to turn the tide of the battle.
"Awaken, my subjects," Ah Yin commanded softly. She slammed both of her hands down onto the cracked cobblestones, pouring the entirety of her incredibly dense spirit power directly into the vast root network she had stealthily buried beneath the shattered street during the initial confrontation.
CRACKLE! SNAP!
The ground heaved as dozens of incredibly thick, ruby-red Blood Silver Grass vines suddenly swelled and burst through the paving stones. They pulsated with an eerie, rhythmic heartbeat, taking on an independent life force as they became entirely sentient constructs under her sovereign command.
These sentient botanical constructs hissed like angry vipers, their tips sharpening into hardened, crystalline points. They acted autonomously, unleashing a flurry of piercing spear attacks toward the three attackers while simultaneously weaving intricate, multi-layered defensive nets to buy precious, life-saving time for Ah Yin to recover her breath.
The sentient grass lashed out violently at Zi Ji, multiple vines shooting toward the dark-haired woman from her blind spots. They forced the beautiful, draconic woman to weave gracefully through the air, her body bending at impossible angles to avoid being impaled by the crystal-hardened tips that sought her heart.
Zi Ji merely scoffed, her dark, violet eyes flashing with profound arrogance. She was an entity that had bathed in the deepest, darkest waters of the star forest; mere weeds could not hope to bind her.
"You think these pathetic roots can restrain the abyss?" Zi Ji mocked.
WOOSH!
She activated her Abyss Devouring ability. She did not summon a blade or a shield; instead, she produced several thick, writhing threads of dark-purple light that shot forward from her fingertips like seeking tentacles.
The purple threads did not strike the vines with explosive, destructive force. Instead, they acted with a terrifying, parasitic cunning. They stuck directly to the rapidly moving sentient Blood Silver Grass, winding tightly around the thick, crimson stalks like parasitic worms latching onto a host.
'These threads carry no physical destructive force,' Ah Yin thought, her crimson eyes narrowing in sharp alarm as she analyzed the technique. She felt a sudden, sickening drain on her spiritual sea. She felt her direct, sovereign connection to her sentient vines grow unnaturally sluggish, as if a heavy weight had been tied to her mind.
Zi Ji smirked, pulling her hands back slightly as if reeling in a caught fish. The dark purple threads began to pulse rapidly. They were not rotting the vines; they were actively, hungrily devouring the dense spirit power contained within the Blood Silver Grass.
Ah Yin watched in horror as her magnificent, ruby-red sentient vines rapidly lost their luster. The vibrant crimson color faded into a sickly, lifeless gray. The crystal-hardened tips crumbled into dust. Devoid of their spirit power, the vines lost their sentience, collapsing onto the ruined cobblestones as nothing more than ordinary, dead, brittle wood.
"Your vitality is quite thick, human female," Zi Ji purred, licking her lips as she absorbed the stolen spirit power into her own meridians. "It will make a delicious meal for my abyss."
Meanwhile, Yao Ling stood perfectly still, watching the sentient grass with a gaze of ancient, unadulterated contempt. His simple brown robes fluttered wildly in the violent, howling winds generated by the battle, yet he appeared as immovable as a mountain rooted to the core of the earth.
He looked at the crimson vines, and a spark of terrifying recognition flashed in his cloudy eyes.
"The human world is truly full of deceitful, invasive weeds," Yao Ling hissed, his voice echoing with the creaking sound of ancient timber. "You have poisoned the borders of our home with your vile, corrupted crimson roots. You are the source of the plague!"
Ah Yin's eyes snapped toward the frail old man, her mind racing. She analyzed his aura, pushing past the overwhelming suppression to grasp the true nature of his spirit. The familiar, sickeningly sweet scent of rotting wood and the sensation of a thousand unseen eyes boring into her soul triggered a buried memory.
Her eyes widened in absolute shock.
"You!" Ah Yin gasped, her voice ringing out over the sound of crackling flames and shattering stone. "That aura... I recognize it! You are not a human Spirit Master! You are that specific beast from the Sunset Forest! The Monster Eyed Tree that discovered the Ten Thousand Year Old Blood Silver Grass subjects under my control!"
She realized with a terrifying jolt that the frail old man standing before her was not a human who possessed a tree martial spirit; he was the actual, genuine hundred-thousand-year spirit beast that had haunted her senses months ago. He had achieved the legendary human transformation.
Yao Ling did not bother to deny her accusation. His wrinkled face twisted into a grotesque, horrifying sneer.
RUMBLE!
He unleashed one of his most terrifying, inherent bloodline abilities, an ancient power related directly to his Evil Tree Monster lineage that functioned as a devastating spirit ability in his human form. His vast, unfathomable spirit power sank deeply into the earth, bypassing Ah Yin's defensive root network entirely.
"Conversion of Monster Eyed Trees," Yao Ling muttered, his voice a sinister incantation. A grotesque, vibrant green light flashed blindingly from his wrinkled, bark-like palms, illuminating the twilight square with a sickly radiance.
The remaining sentient Blood Silver Grass that Ah Yin had summoned, the vines closest to the old man, suddenly shuddered violently. They stopped attacking Zi Ji and Chi Wang, freezing in mid-air as if struck by a paralyzing curse.
Ah Yin cried out, grasping her head as she felt her absolute sovereign control over her subjects being violently, ruthlessly hijacked.
The vibrant, ruby-red hue of her Blood Silver Grass was violently twisted. The crimson color drained away, replaced by a sickly, rotting, necrotic green as Yao Ling forcibly mutated her supreme botanical creations using his overwhelming bloodline suppression.
SQUELCH. POP. POP.
Horrifying sounds echoed across the square as the physical structure of the vines altered. Countless, bulbous eyes, possessing slit-like, glowing yellow pupils, snapped open along the entire length of the converted stalks. The once-beautiful crimson grass had been transformed into a grove of grotesque, writhing Monster Eyed Trees.
The newly formed eyes swiveled frantically, locking onto their former sovereign.
BZZZT! BZZZT!
The countless eyes simultaneously shot out thick, concentrated rays of paralyzing, yellowish-green light. The beams crisscrossed the battlefield, striking Ah Yin's remaining crystal defenses and splashing against her Blood Silver Domain.
"Ugh!" Ah Yin groaned, staggering backward as the rays washed over her avatar form.
The sapping light did not cause explosive physical damage, but its effects were far more insidious. It acted as a supreme spiritual poison. Ah Yin felt the spirit power circulation within her meridians instantly become incredibly heavy, as if her blood had turned to thick, freezing mud. Her physical strength waned rapidly under the bizarre, overwhelming spiritual suppression of the Monster Eyed Trees.
Yao Ling had easily dealt with her remaining sentient guardians, turning her own supreme creations against her. He had transformed her weapons into his own executioners as he prepared to target and kill Ah Yin permanently, aiming to sever the source of the crimson corruption once and for all.
"You dare to infect our sanctuary with your foul weeds," Yao Ling spat, taking a slow, deliberate step forward. "For that crime, your soul shall be fertilizer for the true lords of the forest."
Yao Ling raised his arm, pointing a withered, gnarled finger directly at Ah Yin's heart.
Following his silent command, the myriad of eyes on his corrupted, writhing trees glowed with a lethal, concentrated light. The ambient spirit power in the air was sucked violently into the yellow pupils, condensing into a massive, singular beam of absolute death.
"Death Ray of the Myriad Eyes," Yao Ling chanted softly.
Ah Yin crossed her arms defensively in front of her chest. She pushed her spirit power beyond its absolute limits, drawing heavily upon the vitality reserves of her domain.
"Eighth Spirit Ability: Crystallize!" Ah Yin shouted desperately.
She summoned her remaining, uncorrupted vines, weaving them into a dense, multi-layered shield in front of her. The soft vines hardened instantly, taking on a brilliant, prismatic sheen as they transformed into a wall of unbreakable ruby crystal. She braced her feet against the shattered cobblestones, preparing to endure the devastating, likely fatal impact of a Hyper Douluo's ultimate attack.
"Die, human weed," Chi Wang roared from the sidelines, his fists igniting with dark fire, ready to follow up if the old man's attack failed to turn her to ash.
Just as Yao Ling was planning to release the concentrated beam to target and kill Ah Yin, the very fabric of the world around them shifted abruptly.
The suffocating twilight created by the smoke and the oppressive beast auras was suddenly, violently pierced.
A blinding, ethereal blue light descended from the heavens, parting the dark clouds above Spirit City like a theater curtain being drawn aside. The light was so pure, so incredibly sharp, that it hurt the eyes of anyone who dared to look directly at it.
SHING!
A peerless, terrifying sword intent washed over the ruined market square in a massive, invisible tidal wave. This was not the blunt force of a hammer or the chaotic destruction of fire; this was an intent so refined, so incredibly focused, that it carried a sharpness that made the Ferocious Beasts feel as though their impenetrable scales were being slowly, methodically sliced open by an unseen blade.
Sword Douluo Chen Xin arrived upon the battlefield like a descending, wrathful immortal.
His silver hair flowed wildly in the wind generated by his own descent. He stood with his hands clasped casually behind his back, balancing effortlessly atop his magnificent, crystal-blue Seven Kill Sword, which hovered in the air like a localized constellation. He wore simple, pristine white robes that remained entirely untouched by the soot and smoke of the city.
He didn't even utter a single word to announce his arrival. He looked down at the old man pointing a finger at Ah Yin, his sharp, sword-like eyes narrowing with extreme displeasure.
Chen Xin calmly unclasped his hands. He raised his right arm and pointed two fingers downward, executing a simple, elegant stabbing motion toward the earth.
"Seven Kill Sword Descent," Chen Xin murmured, his voice cutting clearly through the roar of the flames.
A massive, towering projection of the Seven Kill Sword, measuring over thirty meters in length and glowing with an intense, sapphire brilliance, fell from the sky with heaven-shattering, apocalyptic force. It descended with the speed of a falling star, aiming directly for the cluster of corrupted Monster Eyed Trees.
BOOM! CRASH!
The impact was cataclysmic. The azure blade slammed directly into the center of Yao Ling's botanical formation.
The Death Ray of the Myriad Eyes, which had just begun to fire, was met head-on by the overwhelming, concentrated sharpness of the sword projection. The azure blade did not just block the death ray; it cleaved perfectly through the center of the beam, splitting the concentrated energy in twain and dispersing it harmlessly into the sky.
The massive sword projection continued its downward trajectory, slamming into the corrupted wood of the Monster Eyed Trees. The peerless sharpness of the Seven Kill Sword destroyed Yao Ling's attack instantly, severing the old man's spiritual connection to the constructs and reducing the thick, corrupted wood to fine, harmless sawdust that blew away in the resulting gale.
"Who dares to cause trouble in the heart of Spirit City?!" Chen Xin's voice boomed.
It was not a question; it was an absolute demand. His voice carried the unquestionable, supreme authority of a Rank 98 Super Douluo, his sharp eyes locking onto the three attackers, evaluating their threat level instantly.
He landed gracefully on the shattered cobblestones, positioning himself directly in front of Ah Yin's trembling form. The physical, crystal-blue Seven Kill Sword floated obediently beside his shoulder, humming with a lethal vibration that completely pushed back and nullified the suffocating, bestial auras of the three attackers, protecting the crimson-haired woman entirely.
Chen Xin did not need an introduction; he had recognized Ah Yin immediately from a great distance. He knew full well that this mature, crimson-haired woman was the highly trusted, loyal maid of his grandson-in-law, Zhang Tian. She was under the absolute protection of the Seven Treasure Glaze Tile Sect.
'Why did these powerful experts attack Ah Yin in broad daylight?' Chen Xin thought, his sharp eyes analyzing the old man, the dark-haired woman, and the burly, fiery man. 'They hide their true martial spirits well, but their auras reek of heavy killing intent. No matter... they have crossed a line that cannot be uncrossed. We will know their motives once we beat them up.'
Chen Xin's killing intent, honed over decades of solitary sword practice, expanded outward like a physical dome of pressure, locking firmly onto Yao Ling, whom he identified as the greatest immediate threat.
Yao Ling narrowed his cloudy eyes, his wrinkled hands dropping to his sides. He sensed the extreme, concentrated lethality radiating from the human sword master standing before him. This was not a regular human cultivator; this was an anomaly.
"A human who has touched the absolute peak of the sword path," Yao Ling hissed, his voice carrying a reluctant, grudging respect. His brown robes shifted as he prepared to engage this new, incredibly dangerous variable. He knew that even with his vast cultivation, fighting a Rank 98 human who specialized entirely in offensive sword arts was a life-threatening endeavor.
Zi Ji and Chi Wang also halted their aggressive advance immediately. Their acute, ancient beastly instincts were screaming at them, raising the hairs on the back of their necks. The overwhelming, razor-sharp aura of this silver-haired human told them clearly that he was entirely capable of claiming their lives if they were even slightly careless in their approach.
The battle lines within the ruined market square were abruptly, violently redrawn.
The chaotic, solitary defense of Ah Yin, struggling to survive against overwhelming odds, had instantly transformed into a tense, apocalyptic standoff. It was a clash between the apex predators of the Star Dou Great Forest, hiding in human skin, and the absolute, undisputed pinnacle of human martial cultivation. The air grew perfectly still, the silence broken only by the crackling of remaining flames and the lethal, high-pitched humming of the Seven Kill Sword, as both sides prepared for a battle that could level the entire city district.
~~
A/N: Check out my other novels [Villain: Manipulating The Heroines Into Hating The Protagonist] and [Harem Master: Seduction System].
Also, check out 20 Chapters Ahead for this fanfic on my P.atreon.
Patreon link: https://www.patreon.com/c/evildragon04